Agency Blog

Why You Should Implement Schema Markup During Coronavirus

The challenge of adapting to life during the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues. The Internet, already a powerful tool, has become a lifeline for many in finding out information about this crisis. The websites of many businesses now have a “Special Announcement” that appears when visited, which present info of how operations are being changed as a result of the coronavirus. Is your site promoting a “Special Announcement”? If not, it is mandatory to begin doing so.

To begin with, some information on what makes websites tick – and get noticed.

The scheme of things behind “schema markup”

Ever hear of "schema markup?" It is of major importance in online communications. We take it for granted, but the structure of online content is critical for being relevant to users and interpreted by search engines. With this in mind, the wording of the “schema markup” can either make or break a website. As explained by Luke Harsel on SEMrush, “schema markup” is a data vocabulary that’s carefully structured to define all subject matter, actions, and relationships on the Internet – ranging from webpages to emails, and all other online content. The “schema markup” helps search engines gain a clear understanding of all this information for the purpose of ultimately providing a better user experience to anyone who visits a particular web page.

How “rich snippets” go a long way

You’ve seen them, but might not have known them by their names – those brief descriptions of people, places, things, or businesses that appear at the top of the Google page after a search is entered. These are “rich snippets,” which are search results with extra data included. The search engine pulls this extra data from the structured data that site operators add to existing HTML. Chris Meier notes on Unamo that “rich snippets” originally enabled search engines to better understand the information that appears on each web page. Over time, major search engines have extended the schema markup that make up “rich snippets” to present richer search results which help users find the information they are seeking quickly and more easily.

And now, presenting –

“Special Announcements”

The application and combination of “schema markup” and “rich snippets” are being put to much-needed use today. Last week, George Nguyen of Search Engine Land reported on the new “SpecialAnnouncement” structured data, released by schema.org, a resource site devoted to anything related to “schema markup.” The “SpecialAnnouncement” data – named Schema.org 7.0 – has the technological capability to add date-stamped textual updates and markup to associate the announcement with an ongoing situation; in today’s universal case, the COVID-19 outbreak.

Help in today’s times

The coronavirus has blindsided the world and how we live. With the new structured data of “SpecialAnnouncement,” every business and organization with an online presence can keep visitors to their sites informed of how they are adapting to this crisis. And these visitors can learn about these changes, as well as any updates, directly from the search results (thanks to “rich snippets”).

EGG Group, along with our colleagues and clients, is taking proactive measures in navigating the changes in marketing and business that continue on account of the coronavirus. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions as we all meet this challenge.